If you are looking for a bold flavoured dish to add to your family BBQ then look no further! It takes moments to prepare and looks so impressive on a plate, you’ll be on the rota to make some more the next time round!
This recipe is inspired by my road trip to New Orleans from Alabama last summer. I can’t tell you how excited I was to finally be making the drive to this State, albeit I was still getting use to the long endless country roads. The food in Montgomery was good, but as I was reminded continuously by the locals, the food of New Orleans was much much better. And it helped so much that I was in the throes of summer aka BBQ season so off down the road of discovery I went.
The traditional Cajun cuisine requires you to ‘blacken’ the fish. This ought to be done outdoors as the smoke from the pan and burning butter is what creates the charred effect on the fish. Another key ingredient is the smoked paprika which is present in most if not all Cajun meat dishes. Because I wanted to retain some of the juices from the Tilapia, I coated the fish in the crunchy corn flour, it also looks a little more presentable. I am certain you will enjoy making and sharing this recipe…enjoy!
Tilapia Taco
Ingredients:
For the Fish - marinade:
1 Tilapia (sliced into 6 fillets, de-boned)
2 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning (or any other Fish Seasoning powder)
1 tsp smoked Paprika
1/2 medium onion - grated
Juice 1 lime
2 tbsp garlic paste
1 tsp finely chopped scotch bonnet pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp grated ginger
For the Fish - coating:
1 cup Corn Flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 celery salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Vegetable oil - frying
For the Coleslaw:
1/4 Purple Cabbage - finely sliced
1-2 carrots - finely sliced (or grated)
1/2 cup sweetcorn
1/2 Red Sweet Pepper - finely sliced
Pinch of finely chopped fresh Thyme
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup of Sour Cream or Mayonnaise
6 Mini Tortilla Wraps
Method
The night before / 5 hours before cooking
1. Clean and fillet the fish with lime and salt. Coat the fish in the ingredients listed under ‘marinade’, place in a sealed container in the fridge.
Just before frying
2. Prepare a plate with the ingredients ‘for coating’ and set aside. Take a frying pan and fill with 1-2″ of oil under a medium heat. Heat your oven to ‘warm’ ready to put the fish in once its fried.
3. Remove any excess seasoning from the fish, but not too much. Test the oil with a little flour to see if its ready. Roll the fish fillets one by one into the flour until fully coated and carefully place in the oil to fry for 3 minutes each side. Transfer each fillet to the oven when completed.
4. Mix all the ingredients listed under ‘coleslaw’ ready to serve.
5. Place the tortilla wraps on a tray and place in the oven for no more than 30 seconds, this is just to warm them, it should not be crisp.
6. Assemble the ingredients: wrap, coleslaw, fish. Eat.
I really love corn crusted anything. I prefer it over breaded. Not that I have to watch my gluten it won’t be missed. I am gonna give this a try… will it work with defrosted fish fillets?
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This is why I dislike making comments on the phone… I meant *Now that I have to watch my gluten* oh boy!! lol
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Don’t worry I understood! LOL yes I love cornmeal in everything too! Not everyone does but I think it works well here. Yes frozen fish should be ok, but you know it has a different/ firmer texture. Which fish did you have in mind?
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The same tilapia fillets I have some in my freezer. Great stuff then this shall be on my to do list for the weekend as I have been on the meat all week . Thanks
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Excellent! Have a great weekend! x
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Rai, I don’t even like to eat fish that much, and I still want some of this so bad! Great looking and sounding recipe 🙂
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LOL that’s so funny! I apologise for tempting you!
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I love fish tacos. These look lovely and jam-packed!
-Shini
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Thank you so much! Please try the recipe and let me know how it goes…:-)
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